Exactly 28 years ago today, Jacques Villeneuve, Michael Schumacher, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen were virtually inseparable in qualifying for the European Grand Prix at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain.
The trio all clocked an identical time of 1:21.072 in the battle for pole position in the season's final race, which also decided the championship title between Villeneuve and Schumacher. In this instance, pole position went to Villeneuve, who set his time first, followed by Schumacher and Frentzen, who started second and third, respectively.
Damon Hill qualified fourth, just 0.058 seconds slower than the top three. McLaren teammates Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard, who would finish first and second in the race the following day, lined up fifth and sixth in qualifying, trailing by 0.297 and 0.404 seconds, respectively.
In the race itself on Sunday, the world witnessed the infamous collision between Schumacher and Villeneuve at the seventh corner, which led to the German's retirement and ultimately decided the title in favor of his Canadian rival. Schumacher was later disqualified from the entire championship as a deterrent, with the FIA aiming to discourage future intentional contact between title contenders.